Full Breakdown
Eroding Trust in Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court and Calls for Reform
By Drooid · · How we work
Declining Public Confidence
Surveys commissioned for the court’s 75th anniversary show that only about two-thirds of Germans (66%) now trust the Federal Constitutional Court, down from 81% in 2021 according to an Allensbach Institute study. The court still leads among institutions, but its trust rating trails the Bundesrat (47%), the Bundestag (38%) and the Federal Government (29%). Analysts link the decline partly to the court’s pandemic-era rulings that limited certain freedoms, which sparked protests and raised doubts about its independence.
Structural Background
Founded in 1951 to safeguard the Basic Law, the court’s eight-seat senates are filled through a pact between the Bundestag and Bundesrat: each chamber proposes half of the judges, with the main parties allocating slots. The process was disrupted last year when a Social Democratic nominee, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, withdrew after a populist social-media campaign led some Christian Democratic Union members to retract support. Former judge Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff argues that the current composition no longer mirrors Germany’s evolving political landscape.
Reform Proposals
Lübbe-Wolff’s recent book suggests advertising judicial vacancies publicly and selecting candidates from open applications, a model used in Austria and Switzerland, to lessen party influence while preserving democratic legitimacy. She also recommends allowing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to nominate candidates, noting that state courts in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have already accepted AfD nominees. Lübbe-Wolff believes safeguards would prevent extremist appointees, citing younger candidates who could be “close enough to the AfD” yet remain constitutionally reliable.
Divergent Views
Political scientist Christine Landfried cautions that sections of the AfD are “right-wing extremist” and hostile to the constitution, arguing that Germany’s Nazi legacy warrants heightened vigilance in judicial appointments. She doubts that allowing AfD nominees would protect democratic safeguards.
The debate highlights a tension between preserving the court’s pluralism and protecting it from perceived extremist influence, a balance that will shape Germany’s constitutional legitimacy in the years ahead.